Hi all, I took my 8 week old Irish Staffordshire Bull Terrier for his first inoculations last monday, it all seemed to go well, he didn't even yelp when the vet jabbed the needle in the scruff of his neck! I took him home and 3 hours later thought I was going to lose him!!!!! Took him straight back to the vet and was told he was suffering from an allergic reaction to the vaccine, it looked like he had anaphylactic shock, his eyes swelled up badly, he was very hot and had a swelling on the back of his neck where the needle had been. He didn't look well at all! Obviously I was very upset, had to leave him at the vets, where they gave him a "steroid injection" (I assume that means anti inflammatorys?,until later that day, they kept him under observation. Went and collected him at 7.30 that night, all seemed ok again, very glad to have my boy back, then at around 1am, before I went to bed I noticed his eyelid was a bit swollen again, watched him for a few minutes and he swelled up again before my very eyes! Rang the emergency number for the vet and took him back where he was given another small steroid injection, took him home again and stayed up all night with him, all was good, took him back to vet next morning for a check up and he was given another small steroid shot to stop him itching.
Since then the vet (who said he had never seen a dog react to the vaccination like this) has been on to the manufacturer of the Vaccine (which was: Virbac Canigen PPIL) and they say it can happen sometimes. They've recommended that when he's due his second shot next week that he gets an anti inflammatory jab in the morning and then has his vaccine later that day.
I was wondering if we had anyone on here who has experienced anything similar?
Or perhaps has any vetinary knowledge that they could share please?
All help is hugely appreciated, thank you!

I'm going to suggest you contact my homeopathic vet, at http://www.homevet.com because this sounds like a serious situation, and a vaccine next week sounds way too soon. Normally vaccines are given 2-4 weeks apart. Many vaccines are combinations, and some elements aren't neccessary, for example parvo is vital, but corona can be skipped. This can decrease the liklihood of a bad response. I would want to know if there is anything else going on w/your pup, too, before vaccinating. You said this was his first shot, none done by the breeder. It sounds like it was terrible, my sympathy.

Hi, thanks for the reply, yes it was his first shot, he came home with me at 6 weeks old, a bit soon I know but he was on solid food and kept eating all the food before the other pups!! He is definitely the Alpha pup, he weighs 8.4 pounds at 8 weeks and is a bit of a handful, not a problem though, I work for myself so am able to be at home with him all day until he grows out of it............. or maybe he won't!? I don't mean he's trouble, just needs showing the way.

The vaccination next week, that would be 14 days after the first one, the vet did say it could be left a bit longer but to be honest I'd like him to be able to go out as soon as I can, he needs the exercise!

I will have a look at that link thank you very much.

As for anything else going on with him, he certainly seems healthy enough, I have however emailed the company that makes the vaccine, (Virbac) to see what they'd recommend to me, be interesting to see if it's the same advice they gave the vet?

I've got to say though that if the vet had made me aware of any possible consequences then I would definitely have researched vaccines before letting them do his shots.

i have a friend whose tibetan terrier pup went into shock to the point that his heart actually stopped because he had such a horrible reaction to his first rabies vaccine. it's easier with the rabies because they knew for sure what the allergy was to. with the combo shot, it could be any of the parts.

the second time around they gave him a shot of antihistamines before his injection and he spend a half-day in the hospital. he did just fine. no reaction at all. (i don't know why she didn't even check a titer. that's what i would have done).

i'd definitely ask the vet about splitting up the different elements of the vaccine.

i'm sorry you had such a bad experience. any kind of reaction like that is very scary!!

If it were me and my pup? I would insist on individual shots. There's no way I would do a cocktail again. Parvo and distemper are the big ones. It isn't worth the risk, what if next time it's a more aggressive reaction? They tend to get worse over time, not better. I'm personally of the opinion that once they get 2 sets of shots that's it. Unless parvo or distemper break out in your area, and you can get boosters for just those anyway. With these guys being prone to parvo, I can see boostering for that. I will NOT do cocktails. Sash is 8 and Goliath is 7, they have both had one cocktail in their life..........rabies every 3 years. If parvo or distemper is an issue I vaccinate otherwise.........no.